Song Lam Nghe An and the story of Hoang Anh Gia Lai 10 years ago
In the last two seasons, Song Lam Nghe An has applied a policy of rejuvenating its squad, but the rejuvenating process happened too quickly, causing the Nghe An team to face difficulties similar to Hoang Anh Gia Lai 10 years ago.
From the story of Hoang Anh Gia Lai
10 years ago, in V.League 2015, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club made a bold decision when officially introducing players born in 1995, 1996 such as Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Van Toan... They are the core of the U19 Vietnam players who caused a fever in Vietnamese football and are considered outstanding talents, bringing fans to every level of emotion. They are praised and expected to succeed in V.League.
The result was obvious to everyone, Hoang Anh Gia Lai with the youngest average age of 21.7 won only 6 matches, drew 6 matches and lost 14 matches, ranked 13th/14 in V.League 2015. In the following V.League season, this generation of players improved, ranking 12th/14 overall with 9 wins, 3 draws and 14 losses. In both seasons using young players, the team from the Mountain City was on the brink of relegation.
It was not until the 2017 season, that is, 3 seasons after the 1995 and 1996 players of Mr. Duc were tested and experienced in the V.League, that Hoang Anh Gia Lai had a better result with 10th place on the rankings.
As the late coach Le Thuy Hai said decades ago, he did not select any U19 Vietnam players for the Binh Duong team in the V.League at that time, although he highly appreciated their talent, they were not capable enough. And the important thing is that it takes time. It is a good thing that they are given opportunities in the V.League, but it needs to be in the right situation, depending on each time.
It has now been proven that many players of that generation could not stay in the V.League, retiring early, and many players were successful. But one thing is certain: Van Thanh, Van Toan, Xuan Truong and Cong Phuong have achieved what they have today thanks to the patience and recklessness of Hoang Anh Gia Lai in the 2015-2016 period. The price to pay for this generation of players coming to light at the U23 Asian Finals in Changzhou in 2018 and the subsequent success of Vietnamese football was the days when Hoang Anh Gia Lai lived in fear of relegation.
About the change in Song Lam Nghe An
With Song Lam Nghe An, a training center as famous as Hoang Anh Gia Lai after 10 years, the Nghe An team, in the context of many key players leaving, had to rejuvenate their force. This season, Song Lam Nghe An continued to surprise by using young players with the average age of the whole team down to 21.9 (2023/24 season is 22.7). Both seasons struggled to stay in the league.
Just take one example from the most recent match,Lam River Nghe AnDespite being rated lower, Song Lam Nghe An played very well against Hanoi at Vinh Stadium in round 22, then lost 1-2 in the last seconds of the match. All statistics of Song Lam Nghe An were not inferior, even had more shots (15 shots) but still lost. And the index that Song Lam Nghe An was far behind Hanoi was the average age of the players on the field. In that match, Song Lam Nghe An had an average age of only 24.5 while Hanoi was 27.9 with experienced players.
Similar to the matches against strong opponents such as Cong An Ha Noi, Dong A Thanh Hoa, Viettel... the narrow loss against Ha Noi proved that the players of Song Lam Nghe An lack courage and experience. Competitive spirit and talent are not enough, in V.League there are too many factors that make it difficult for young players, including referees, competitive mentality, tricks...
Both seasons, Song Lam Nghe An played with great effort, but still did not get good results, not only due to poor quality of foreign players, or coaching skills, but one of the main reasons is that there are too many players who are "forced to mature". Being able to play early from the age of 18-20 is very good for them in the future, but not good for the results and achievements of the current team. That needs to be balanced and calculated from the beginning of the season.
In terms of talent, Van Viet, Quang Vinh, Long Vu… of Song Lam Nghe An cannot be compared to the Hoang Anh Gia Lai players of the past. However, what the young players of Song Lam Nghe An are performing and demonstrating still deserves the same praise as Hoang Anh Gia Lai 10 years ago. It is carefree, enthusiastic but immature and leaves many regrets.
If only Song Lam Nghe An had the ability to keep the pillars or bring in more experienced players sooner, or at least have better quality foreign players, surely the Nghe An team under his leadership would have beenCoach Phan Nhu Thuat has been a very watchable team, leaving a strong impression in V.League./.
